


Silent Night

by SimplyEssa



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Crying, Cuddling, Fluff, Keith (Voltron) Angst, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Protective Lance (Voltron), Protective Paladins, Whump, cuddle piles, keith is a precious baby that needs to ben protected, notbing too bad, they all have PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-12
Packaged: 2019-03-17 05:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13652052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyEssa/pseuds/SimplyEssa
Summary: Keith wakes up after a nightmare-filled sleep to find himself in a warm embrace.Or: Keith has a nightmare and the others help him through it.





	Silent Night

**Author's Note:**

> i read a thing and thought of a thjng

Blood.

It’s everywhere.

Streaking across the wall, in puddles on the floor, stained on his once-white armour, matching the shade of his Lion.

But it’s not in Lance.

Not anymore.

It’s slipping past his fingers from where they’re pressed against the wound, shaking from the energy he’s exerting. He’s wounded himself, somewhere on his left leg, but Lance doesn’t need to know that. 

“K-Keith,” Lance mumbles, voice slurring. Keith holds back a sob, eyes stinging with unshed tears. “Why... why’d... you...”

”Why’d I what?” He cracks a shaky smile, tears slowly slipping down his cheeks without his permission.

Lance cracks an eye open; narrows it into a glare. “This is your fault,” he hisses out, grabbing Keith’s chin, with energy he definitely did not have before, in a vice like grip. “You’re the reason I’m dying.”

”W-what?” His eyes widen as he stares down at Lance, unable to tear his eyes or face away with the hand holding him there. “I didn’t-“

”I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you,” Lance sighs and lets go of his chin, turning his head away from Keith. Keith feels terror hinder his breathing and claw up his throat as Lance’s eyes close. “You are... Galra after... after all...Keith...”

”I- no, Lance-“

”I hope you suffer the same way those prisoners suffer,” Lance murmurs, trying and failing to get away from Keith, even though Keith’s arms are numb and shaking; weak. “No, wait, I guess those are your prisoners, huh?”

”They- they’re not... Lance-“ Keith feels a sob climb it’s way through his chest; his throat. It mingles with the terror that is still lingering.

”Stop... stop talking.”

Keith’s jaw snaps shut.

”I don’t want your... dumb... Galra voice to... to be the last thing I hear...”

Lance’s eyes slide shut.

Keith’s eyes shoot open, a gasp tearing it’s way out of his throat. His cheeks are wet with tears, his throat feels raw. The room he’s in is dark, but not dark like the room where Lance... Lance...

He chokes out a sob, burying his face in his hands, hoping and praying no one else can hear him through the thin Castle walls.

* * *

Lance has always been a light sleeper.

He doesn’t really know why, maybe because if he wasn’t, he’d have to go to school with a marker penis on his face, but he has been, and always will be, grateful for whatever made him one.

He can hear it when one of his friends are having a nightmare, when most of the others can’t because they sleep heavily, unlike him.

Which is why he wakes up tonight.

Someone in the room beside his, Keith, he thinks, is sobbing quietly, as if they’re trying to muffle the sound.

He wants to ignore it, because it’s definitely Keith, with the rough voice, he one no one else even comes close to matching, and Keith wouldn’t want other people to comfort him, but he can’t, not when years of being an older brother have made him unable to help a person in distress.

There’s, of course, also the small fact that he probably-maybe loves Keith and can’t stand to see him in pain.

So, without bothering to get changed out of his pyjamas (blue pyjama pants- he doesn’t sleep with his shirt on, unlike some heathens), he grabs a blue sweatshirt and slips out of the room. 

He bumps into Pidge on his way there.

”Wha’s goin’ on?” she mumbles, rubbing her eye wih her fist beneath the glasses that are sliding off her nose. Her hair is in a messy bun, pushed back by a red headband, one she definitely stole from Keith. 

“Nothing, Pidgey,” He smiles gently, rubbing her shoulder, ignoring the sleepy glare he gets in return. “Go to sleep.”

She nods tiredly, flipping him off as she heads to her room.

With a light laugh, he manages to make the short distance to Keith’s room without any more interruptions, and opens the door.

“Keith?” Lance calls quietly, and even in the dark, he can spot the small lump of Keith on the bed, curled into a ball and pressed against the wall, body still shaking, despite the fact that no sobs are coming out. “Are you awake?”

He doesn’t expect an answer, not really. Keith could be asleep; he wouldn’t know, he can’t see if his eyes are open or closed, and this could be how Keith sleeps.

But then Keith whimpers, chokes out a stuttery, shaky sob, and curls around himself tighter.

It’s answer enough.

He crawls into the bed, ignoring Keith’s soft protests, and pulls him close, into a hug.

Keith goes limp almost immediately, relaxing into the touch, and allows his head to fall on Lance’s shoulder, tears cold against Lance’s warm shoulder.

He doesn’t mind.

He would never mind, if it came to Keith.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, the only sound being Keith’s soft breathing and the occasional sniffle. Lance thinks he’s humming some spanish song under his breath, but he can’t be sure, not when his face is buried in Keith’s surprisingly soft hair and he’s rubbing circles into Keith’s back and he’s touching Keith so much- 

“Sorry,” Keith says quietly, attempting to push away from Lance’s hopefully steady and grounding hold.

Attempt is the key word.

Lance tightens the arm he has around Keith’s shoulders, pulls him closer. Keith sighs shakily, and relaxes into the touch once more.

”Don’t apologize,” Lance says, voice muffled by the crown of unruly black hair. “We all have nightmares.”

”I-I guess, but...” Keith trails off when Lance wraps his other arm around him.

”But nothing,” Lance says harshly, thought not unkind. He tips his head back against the wall, thinking of the proper words to say. He gnaws at his bottom lip, fingers kneading through Keith’s hair. “It happens to everyone.”

Keith nods.

He feels his heart crack as Keith settles into him further, feels his face flush red as Keith nuzzles his chest with wet cheeks.

Then the door opens, and Keith is whipping away, already sitting cross legged on the other side of the bed.

_How the quiznak did he do that so fast?_

”Hey, Keith?” It’s Hunk, thank the Lord, with a couple of blankets draped over his forearm and a barely conscious Pidge drapes over his back. Lance cracks a smile- Hunk always knows what people need and when they need it, it’s one of his best qualities. “You okay?”

”Yeah,” He’s definitely not, not by a long shot, and Lance can tell Hunk knows too. 

Hunk let’s the door slide shut as he maneuvers Pidge onto the bed beside Keith, and drapes a fluffy blanket over her. She sighs, letting her amber eyes flutter shut as she clumsily places a hand on Keith’s shin.

She’s out within seconds. 

Keith looks surprised by the contact, even though he gently raises a hand to her head and strokes it gently. In her sleep, she leans into the touch, surprising Keith even more. He smiles warmly at the sight.

He scoots closer to Keith, once again wrapping him up in his arms, to which he gains no protests. Keith rests his head on  Lance’s chest and let’s his eyes shut, fingers still carding through Pidge’s hair.

Without any prompt, Hunk settles down next to them, and pulls all three of them close. Keith has a small smile on his face as a blanket similar to Pidge’s is draped over him, burrowing into the blanket and Lance.

”Thank you,” he murmurs quietly, only loud enough for Lance to hear as Hunk quickly falls asleep, joining Pidge in their coma-like-sleep.

”Not a problem,” Lance says tiredly, pulling Keith close and pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

Lance’s eyes widen as he realizes what he’s done, cheeks flaming, but Keith doesn’t seem affected, only smiling bigger and letting out a content little sigh  as he settles his free hand over Lance’s chest, as if feeling his heartbeat.

And if that isn’t the cutest thing ever, he doesn’t know what is.

He doesn’t allow himself to sleep until at least an hour after Keith does, making sure he stays happy and doesn’t have another nightmare.

When he eventually lets his eyes slide shut, he feels cold fingers touching his jaw.

”I love you,” Keith whispers, voice drowned with sleep. “So much.”

”Me too.”

He falls asleep content, Keith pressed against him and Hunk wrapped around them both, Pidge wrapped in a little blanket burrito at their feet.

 

**Author's Note:**

> they sort out the crush thing in the morning
> 
>  
> 
> so this kind of sucks a lot but that’s A okay because it’s almost midnight and i’m exhausted and wrote this on a whim with no plot whatsoever. i mean, most of my shit doesn’t have a plot (minus spilling red :D) but it at least has a hazy direction of where i want it to go.  
> this... this was just a pick an idea in the moment type of thing,  
> feedback is appreciated (so r,,, kudos,, but u don’t have too,,,) and i really like it when y’all comment because it shows that, yes, you do like this story, as bad (if it seems bad?) it seems. don’t be afraid to comment, but remember oh don’t have too!!!  
> okay good night please kill me thanks


End file.
